Notes from the Periphery

This
morning I woke up and, after making coffee and checking email, I went
to Facebook. There were a number of posts from people expressing
sadness over the death of Steve Jobs and there were a number of posts
from yesterday’s protest as part of Occupy Wall Street. The odd
thing is that these posts were from the same people. The fact that
someone can simultaneously critique corporate culture and
laud the innovation at Apple is not as
strange as it might at first appear.

As
much as the movement might seem dualistic—‘them’ (the 1%)
versus ‘us’ (the 99%)—there is an effort to avoid binaries and
their oversimplification of identities and values. By not packaging
the demands or branding the effort, the protesters have created an
opening. What began as a small crack is being pried wider and wider
each day. This lack of closure—no end goal, no time frame, no limit
on who might participate—is enticing in the way that small opening
in a construction wall offers a glimpse into what’s being built
inside.

There
is clearly something under construction and people want to see what
it is. When I questioned people milling around the square over the
course of a few days, most told me they came because they “wanted
to see.” One participant told me she came to see for herself on the
first Monday of the occupation and has returned every day since that
first visit. She, like many, envisions herself as part of the
periphery. She chats with people, she listens, she marches, but she
doesn’t perceive herself as part of the action—she sees herself
as someone who supports the real
activists. This was perhaps the most intriguing theme that emerged
from the discussions I had with people—that many don’t feel like
equal participants—rather, they understand that there is a core
group and a surrounding periphery. The language conveyed this clearly
and there was consistency in how these people identified themselves
as “supporters” rather than full-fledged actors.

This
periphery sees the core as those people who are sleeping in the
square, speaking at assemblies, facilitating committees, and
regularly interfacing with the media. Based on the limited
conversations I had, there seem to be a few different reasons for
distancing one’s self. For some, this is a learning period. They
are waiting. For now, these people are content to just be present and
watch. Certainly they do more than watch—they help out when needed
in the day to day functions of the square, they march and participate
in the larger events—yet, they are waiting until they are
comfortable with the protocol, language, and new types of
personalities (one young woman’s description) they encounter. For
others, they feel like activists from another time and place. These
people were active on campaigns with a sharper focus than this
movement and engaged in resistance with a clear ‘enemy’ with the
belief that issue-by-issue, action-by-action, the world could change.
They are not naïve. These activists know that today they confront a
hydra, a chimera—not a lone dragon to slay. Because they recognize
this, they know the tactics need editing, updating. These people are
on the periphery as they weigh and assess their knowledge alongside
the practices being deployed at the occupation. Again, there is a
waiting period. A third group on the periphery is comprised of people
who are trying to decide if they agree—either with content or with
process and in some cases, both. These people are reluctant to fully
commit because they are ambivalent. What is interesting is that many
of these people are not necessarily concerned about deciding one way
or the other—they are content to remain undecided. A number of
people told me they need not negotiate their position with the larger
group, instead choosing to engage only from a distance and when
comfortable.

Through
observation I witnessed the assumption that people are aware of
protocols and methods of communication and organization practiced by
the group. This was visible at the square, on the march over the
Brooklyn Bridge and at the march in alliance with the unions.
However, what is interesting is that this did not seem to alienate
people. I saw evidence to the contrary. When people were confused or
unclear what was happening, they asked strangers. Throwing people
into this setting and assuming competence seemed to make that
‘competence’ (for lack of a better word) happen.

It
is certainly the case that the occupation is a constellation. The
infrastructural layout and structural organization of meetings and
activities attests to this. However, this constellation is overlaid
with concentric zones—a core, a periphery and, perhaps, a
semi-periphery. How people are assembled is blurrier than any model.
For instance, during the day at the square you see almost as many
people with notebooks, cameras, microphones, clipboards,
questionnaires, and so forth, as people without. The lines here are
fuzzy. A student working on a research project is also part of the
action. Some journalists I spoke to consider themselves professionals
reporting on the occupation while also participants. The researchers
and reporters are not objective bystanders, but are often subjective
allies and actors. Some of my students confirm this, as does the
testimony of a group of (mostly European) journalists with whom I
spoke.

I
had some exchange with members of the Spanish contingency. They began
meeting for assemblies in May to discuss how to internationalize what
was happening in Barcelona, Madrid and other cities in Spain. Their
group joined forces with Greek activists, 16 Beaver, the May 12
movement, Bloombergville participants, and other groups in August.
This initial group, according to one participant, “melted” into
the larger group and was one of the seeds that sprouted into the
resulting occupation.

A
couple of days ago around lunchtime, I ran into my friend Wendy. She
was at the square with a group of community college students in one
of her sociology classes. After chatting with Michael Moore and
encouraging her students to mingle, she left for her other job. As
she walked away I heard her say, “Now I’m gonna go get something
to eat and really be a
part of this.”

Yesterday
at the march with the unions and students, a man approached a friend
and me. He said, “Glad to see you smiling. Seems the older folks
are the only ones with a smile. The younger folks are so serious.
They don’t know how long we’ve waited for something like this.”